Springvale Districts’ Steven Laska gets a kick away during the Demons’ win over Highett on Saturday. By Paul Pickering
FIVE weeks into its maiden Southern Football League (SFL) Division One campaign, Springvale Districts announced its arrival on Saturday with a 73-point win over Highett.
The Demons secured their first victory of the season under leaden skies at Newcomen Road, surging to a 10-goal half-time lead before holding off the Bulldogs in a dour second half.
For Demons coach Steve Hughes, it was belated reassurance that his charges can compete in the SFL’s premier competition.
And while Highett has been largely non-competitive this year, Hughes was buoyed by the manner in which the game was won.
“It was a bit of a relief,” he said. “Not just the result, but also the way we played – we were pretty happy.”
After dominating all-comers in Division Two last year, Springvale Districts struggled through a fruitless first month in Division One.
Having challenged Clayton in round one, healthy defeats against Mordialloc (73 points), St Paul’s East Bentleigh (149) and Tooronga Malvern (56) soon followed.
So despite their lowly opposition on Saturday, a win was just the tonic for Hughes’ men.
“Maybe players start to doubt themselves, especially after four straight losses, so I think we did needed to get some confidence back,” he said.
Most promising was the way the Demons adopted a more direct passage towards goal, giving an out-of-sorts forward line a chance to compete one out.
The improved movement allowed Springvale Districts to register 34 scoring shots to Highett’s 11 for the afternoon.
The main target was Brad Heuvel, who booted four goals on his return from injury.
Heuvel received sound support from Gavin Vassallo (three goals), Neil Sjostrom (two) and Mark Charles (two) – the latter revelling in the presence of another marking forward.
Ex-Highett defender Paul Murphy proved to be a nuisance to his long-time team-mates, while former skipper Jason Hall played his best game since returning to Newcomen Road and 16-year-old Jackson Sketcher impressed many in his senior debut.
While the Demons will face tougher opposition from Chelsea Heights this Saturday, most would give them some chance of causing an upset at home.
Meanwhile, in Division Two, Dingley has not looked back from its agonising defeat to Springvale Districts in last year’s grand final.
The Dingoes claimed their fifth-consecutive victory in thumping the Kangaroos (ex-Moorabbin) by 74 points on Saturday.
Playing coach Adam Quinn and prolific goal sneak Bret Lavars each booted three majors, while Brent Gniel, Daniel Atkin and Joel Gray were the Dingoes’ best contributors around the ground.
At the other end of the form spectrum is Lyndale, which fell 33 points shy of Ashwood on Saturday.
The Pumas received valuable contributions from Jeff Dudi, Matt Bastin, Tim Lovell (two) and Adrian McCracken.
In Division Three, there was no joy for the locals.
The Dandy Demons lost to ladder-leading Mount Waverley by 52 points, while the Doveton Eagles fell 31 points short of Skye and the Sandown Cobras finished well to get within 22 points of Canterbury.
Round Six match-ups: Division One: Chelsea Heights at Springvale Districts. Division Two: Murrumbeena at Lyndale, Dingley at Oakleigh District. Division Three: Skye at Dandy Demons, Sandown Cobras at Doveton Eagles.
